James Zahn (James Charles Zahn)

Photos with James Zahn

Biography

Chicago Heights, Illinois, USA

Born in Chicago Heights, Illinois in the late 1970s, James spent much of his youth growing up in the South Suburbs of Chicago. Obsessed with pop-culture in its many forms, he spent much of his time drawing, writing, and focusing on becoming a performer of some sort.

In 1987 his original short story "The Little Champ" became an Illinois Young Author Award winner, and the seeds for a career as a writer were planted. Less than two years later, the budding filmmaker would also emerge. Read more...By the time high school rolled around, all of James' interests were actively being pursued. After moving to Davenport, Iowa in the spring of 1992, he began work on a cable-access program that was quite ambitious for a 15-year old. "ZTV" made its debut in the summer of 1992 and became a cult hit in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Practically overnight, the show was featured in the local news-media, and attracted musical guests such as Faith No More, Megadeth, Stone Temple Pilots, and more. In the spring of 1994, after 40 Episodes, "ZTV" came to an end with a 30 minute special featuring the band "White Zombie".

At the same time "ZTV" was on the air, James was also actively writing and taking photographs for three regional arts magazines. His published work would include interviews with artists such as Pantera, Dr. John, and Genitorturers, and led him to be a photographer at Lollapalooza '93.

The mid 90s was a time of experimentation on the musical front. Zahn was soon fronting the rock band "Odlid!", performing guitar and vocals. The band appeared on numerous compilation CDs, and recorded one-full length album, before breaking-up in early 1998. In addition, they performed at famed venues such as Gabe's Oasis (Iowa City), RIBCO (Rock Island, IL), and Chicago's historic Riviera Theatre, sharing the stage with acts such as Demolition Dollrods, Johnny Socko, and more.

In 2000, James returned to music with a series of unreleased demos, followed by one Internet cult favorite (Darth Vader is A Real Cool Guy), and a track for Artisan Entertainment's "Blair Witchmix", an on-line soundtrack to promote the ill-fated "Blair Witch 2". His track, "Burkittsville" was featured along 12 other tracks, by artists such as Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, and Marilyn Manson, being performed as a part of the Blair Witch WebFest (2000) .

In 2001, James returned to film, where he has been ever since, and intends to stay. He and his wife soon founded FMFE as an outlet for his creative endeavors. Since that time, James has directed numerous short films, music videos,industrials, and much more. In addition, acting had become a main passion.

Keeping the music going as well, James entered Kenosha, Wisconsin's Renwood Messenger Studios in February of 2004 to begin work on a concept project called "Saturday Action Theatre", producing four acoustic tracks from those sessions. In July, he entered Bombshelter Studios in Chicago, with Producer Dan Precision (Break The Silence, Rise Against) and cut 3 electric tracks, completing what would become the "Remakes and Sequels EP". The disc hit stores on August 17, 2004.

Forging ahead into a bigger filmic realm, James began work on the screenplay for "Death Walks the Streets" in late 2004. Completed in February 2005, the multi-genre epic spent several years in "development hell", all while gaining a global fanbase. Nominated for a SpikeTV "Scream Award" for "Most Anticipated Film" in 2007 (while still in-development), the project would find new life in January 2008.

After moving forward under the control of Zahn and his writing partner Ben Brezinski, "Death Walks the Streets" was back in-development as an independent film along with it's already-written sequel "The Long December." On June 26th, 2008 Issue #0 of the comic book prequel series also called "Death Walks the Streets" made it's public debut at Wizard World Chicago, largely regarded as the 2nd Largest Pop-Culture Event in North America. The book quickly gained acceptance by readers and critics alike as positive reviews began appearing online. Issue #0 was published by The Scream Factory, and was called a "must-have" by Comics Buyer's Guide. In October 2008 it was announced that the "Death Walks the Streets" comic books would being published by Fangoria Graphix, the relaunched comic arm of Fangoria Magazine. After publishing only one new issue of the series and a reissue of #0, Fangoria Graphix went out of business due to continued restructuring of the parent company. The books then returned to The Scream Factory for future publication.

In addition, James continued working steadily as an actor, appearing in projects for Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, and Sony Pictures. He recently appeared in the feature film Haunted Traxx (2009) in a supporting role alongside Erica Leerhsen of Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) fame, and voiced several famous "Transformers" characters for a sketch on G4TV's "Attack of the Show". In November of 2008, Zahn began appearing in television commercials for Wendy's, an American chain of fast-food restaurants. Around the same time, he appeared in an "Alcohol Sales Training" video for Walgreens stores.

In August of 2010, Zahn announced via Twitter that he would be taking a break from acting to focus on personal projects, including his work with Kik Axe Music. A November article with Reel Chicago revealed that not only would The Scream Factory be publishing more "Death Walks the Streets" books, but that a film set in the DWTS world would be in development once more at some point in the near future.

2011 saw a return to filmmaking via music videos and short films. A concept short film was created for the band Product of Hate and their song entitled "Unholy Manipulator." Filmed over three days in and around Crestline, Ohio, Hellraiser (1987) actress Ashley Laurence stars as the title character. With production and special FX provided by Robert Kurtzman , a mid-2012 release date is expected.

In 2012, Zahn revealed that he would be leaving his writing and editing duties at Kik Axe Music behind in order to focus on his personal site, The Rock Father. A family-friendly destination geared toward "music-loving caregivers and kids," the site was expanded from a hosted blog to a standalone full-service site on February 1, 2012.

Additionally, music-centric filmmaking has continued, as Zahn directed and edited the Product of Hate music video "Blood Coated Concrete" (released Feb 7, 2012), the Dirge Within lyric video "For My Enemies" (released March 7, 2012), and the album trailer for "The Industrialist," the eighth studio album from the band Fear Factory .